a presentation by Patrick Douglas Crispen NetSquirrel.com

 Learn how Google really works.  Discover some Google secrets no one ever tells you.  Play around with some of Google’s advanced search operators.

Be specific... because if you aren’t specific, you’ll end up with a bunch of garbage!

Use quotes to search for phrases. “bill gates”

Use dashes between words to also search for phrases. bill-gates Source:

Use the + sign to require an exact match. [Well, not really.] “bill gates” +foundation

Use the - sign to exclude. “bill gates” -microsoft

Combine symbols as often as possible (see rule #1). “bill gates” –microsoft +foundation

 If you can’t remember any of the other rules, use the “advanced search” option and it will help you limit your search.

1. Be specific... because if you aren’t specific, you’ll end up with a bunch of garbage! 2. Use quotes [or dashes] to search for phrases. 3. Use the + sign to require. [Well, not really.] 4. Use the - sign to exclude. 5. Combine symbols as often as possible (see rule #1). 6. Use the “advanced search” option.

Google’s shocking secrets revealed!

 If you search for more than one keyword at a time, Google will automatically search for pages that contain ALL of your keywords.  A search for utah jazz fans is the same as searching for utah AND jazz AND fans  But, if you try to use AND on your own, Google yells at you.yells at you Source:

The old AltaVista trick of typing your keywords in lower case is no longer necessary.

 Google is not case sensitive.  So, the following searches all yield exactly the same results: utah education network Utah Education Network UTAH EDUCATION NETWORK UtAh EdUcAtIoN NeTwOrK Source:

 Until recently, Google wouldn’t accept more than 10 keywords at a time. ◦ Any keyword past 10 was simply ignored.  Google now accepts up to 32 keywords. ◦ Stick with 10. Source: Google Hacks, p. 19

A me life for pirate’s?

 When you conduct a search at Google, it searches for ◦ Phrases, then ◦ Adjacency, then ◦ Weights.  Because Google searches for phrases first, the order of your keywords matters. Image source: Google Source: Google Hacks, p

A search for disney fantasyland pirates yields the same number of hits as a search for fantasyland disney pirates, but the order of those hits – especially the first 10 – is noticeably different.

 Google’s Boolean default is AND.  Capitalization does not matter.  Google has a hard limit of 32 keywords.  The order of your keywords matters.

Beyond plusses, minuses, ANDs, ORs, quotes, and *s

Query modifiers filetype: intitle: inurl: site: synonyms Alternative query types cache: link: related: info: Other information needs phonebook: stocks: define: Google Calculator weather movie:

Stuff you can add to your regular searches

 filetype: restricts your results to files ending in ".doc" (or.xls,.ppt. etc.), and shows you only files created with the corresponding program.  There can be no space between filetype: and the file extension  The “dot” in the file extension –.doc – is optional. Source:

 Adobe Portable Document Format (pdf)  Adobe PostScript (ps)  Lotus (wk1, wk2, wk3, wk4, wk5, wki, wks, wku)  Lotus WordPro (lwp)  MacWrite (mw)  Microsoft Excel (xls)  Microsoft PowerPoint (ppt)  Microsoft Word (doc)  Microsoft Works (wks, wps, wdb)  Microsoft Write (wri)  Rich Text Format (rtf)  Shockwave Flash (swf)  Text (ans, txt) Source:

filetype:extension uen filetype:pdf uen -filetype:pdf

 Using link: restricts the results to those web pages that have links to the specified URL.  There can be no space between link: and the URL. Source:

link:URL link:uen.org

Did you know that Google can look up phone numbers, stock quotes, dictionary definitions, and even the answer to math problems?

 There are two ways to use Google’s phonebook: ◦ Just do a regular search. ◦ Use one of Google’s phonebook commands.  Phonebook commands [in lowercase]: ◦ rphonebook: searches residential listings only. ◦ bphonebook: searches business listings only. Source:

 first name (or first initial), last name, city (state is optional)  first name (or first initial), last name, state  first name (or first initial), last name, area code  first name (or first initial), last name, zip code  phone number, including area code  last name, city, state  last name, zip code

bphonebook:Data bphonebook:disneyland ca bphonebook:(714)

 If you begin a query with stocks: Google will treat the rest of the query terms as stock ticker symbols, and will link to a Yahoo finance page showing stock information for those symbols.  Go crazy with the spaces – Google ignores them! Source:

stocks:Symbol1 Symbol2 … stocks: msft stocks: aapl intc msft macr

 If you begin a query with define: Google will display definitions for the word or phrase that follows, if definitions are available.  You don’t need quotes around your phrases. Source:

define:term define:ominicient define:bicoastal

 Simply key in what you'd like Google to compute (like 2+2 ) and then hit enter.  Google’s Calculator can solve math problems involving basic arithmetic, more complicated math, units of measure and conversions, and physical constants. Source:

* GW / 88 mph 100 miles in kilometers sine(30 degrees) G*(6e24 kg)/(4000 miles)^2 0x7d3 in roman numerals For instructions on how to use the Google Calculator, see

 Using weather presents the three to four day weather forecast for a particular US city.  You don’t need a colon in weather. Source:

weather city weather city state weather zip code weather salt lake city weather provo,ut weather 84120

 Using movie: presents either movie show times in a particular city or information [like reviews] about a particular.  There can be a space between movie: and the keywords. Source:

movie:city and state [or zip] movie:keyword[s] movie: movie: pirates

Query modifiers filetype: intitle: inurl: site: synonyms Alternative query types cache: link: related: info: Other information needs phonebook: stocks: define: Google Calculator weather movies:

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